Separatist shutdown affects life in Kashmir valley

Srinagar: A protest shutdown called by separatists affected life across the Kashmir Valley on Tuesday.

Senior separatist leaders including Syed Ali Geelani, Mirwaiz Umer Farooq, Muhammad Yasin Malik, Asiya Andrabi and others called for a shutdown on Tuesday against landing of the Indian Army in Jammu and Kashmir on October 27, 1947 following the accession of the state with India by the then Dogra maharaja, Hari Singh.

The separatists who are fighting for secession of the state, have asked the people to observe October 27 as a “black day”.

Shops, public transport, businesses and educational institutions remained closed in Srinagar and all other district headquarters in the Valley.

Attendance in government offices, banks and post offices was thin due to non-availability of public transport.

Private vehicles and auto-rickshaws, however, plied on roads in some areas of Srinagar city.

Authorities have placed separatist leaders including Geelani and Mirwaiz under house arrest in the city, but no restrictions have been imposed anywhere on public movement today (Tuesday).

Contingents of police and paramilitary central reserve police force (CRPF) have been deployed in full riot gear in the areas of the valley.

Dozens of Kashmiri Pandits on Friday paid homage to civilians, Army men and their community members killed since 1989 and said the plight of Pandits still continues.

For 28 years, the Kashmiri Pandit community has been observing September 14 as ‘Martyrs’ Day-Balidan Diwas’ at B.K. Ganjoo memorial park in Central Delhi.

United Kingdom-based activist Shafalica Bhan Kotwal who has been fighting for the rights of the Kashmiri Pandits, said: “There is no major change in the lives of Kashmir Pandits, their plight still continues despite Bharatiya Janata Party being in power.

Kashmir. Pixabay

“Most of them were thrown out of their homes. They are living in pathetic conditions in shelter homes with no basic facilities.”

She said the community was once accustomed to living in minus 17 degrees Celsius. “Their families are now living in the hostile Jammu weather,” she added.

The son of Kasmiri Pandits’ leader Tika Lal Taploo, Ashutosh Taploo, was at the meeting. He said: “My father was killed not just because he was a Pandit..because he was looked as the Hindu community leader.”

Kashmiri Hindus protest renaming of Shankaracharya Hill. Flickr

Taploo said his father was the first Pandit to have fallen to terrorist bullets in the Valley.

“Till today no government has brought any major change in Pandits’ lives, the atrocities we experienced and psychological trauma we suffered is fresh” he said.

In a statement calling for justice to “victims of terrorism,” the Global Kashmiri Pandit Diaspora said a memorandum signed by thousands of Kashmiri Pandits has been addressed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and submitted to Union Minister Hansraj Ahir. (IANS)